


Last Call

by owlmoose



Series: Pieces of Thedas [36]
Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Brother-Sister Relationships, Dragon Age Kiss Battle, Gen, Goodbyes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-20
Updated: 2014-02-20
Packaged: 2018-01-13 03:17:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1210639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlmoose/pseuds/owlmoose
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hawke gets one last visit from her little brother.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Last Call

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the 2014 Dragon Age Kissing Battle. Prompt was "Warden!Carver/Hawke, The Calling."

When Hawke first heard the muffled sound from the main room of her cottage, she dismissed it as a bad dream and turned over, yanking the quilt up over her ears to block it out. But the noise came again, and so she sat up with a silent grumble. Next to her, Fenris stirred, but did not wake; she let him be and pulled her staff out from under the bed as she stood up. She could always rouse him at need.

Quietly, she pulled on her robe and pushed open the door, holding herself back in the shadows. There, by the banked hearth fire, a tall man stood, stooped over, warming his hands over the brazier. Hawke let the door fall closed behind her and set her staff aside. "Carver?"

He stood up straight, turned to face her, half a smile on his face. "Hello, Sister."

"What brings you here?" she asked, stepping toward him, her voice still hushed so as to not disturb Fenris. "It's been-- how many years?"

"Too many. Especially since--" Carver looked away, facing the firelight, and only then did Hawke truly see the dark circles under his eyes, his hollow cheeks, an awkwardness to his posture that suggested a wounded leg, perhaps a wrenched knee. "This is my last visit I've come to say goodbye."

Hawke's breath caught in her throat as she remembered the truth he had admitted to her, under the Vinmark Mountains, long ago. But when she spoke, her voice was calm. "So it's time?"

"Past time, really." Carver lowered his head. "I've been holding on, fighting the Call, mostly so I could get here and see you first. There's a Deep Roads entrance not far. In the morning, I'll-- go."

She nodded, swallowing around the hard lump in her throat. "Good luck."

He faced her again, his blue eyes bright -- with sorrow, with fever? "I'm sorry."

"I'm the one who should be sorry," she replied, holding out a hand to him. He took it, then enveloped her in an embrace, kissing her on top of the head.

"Don't be," he murmured. "Being a Warden makes for a short life, but it's a good one. Better than any other I could have had, really. I mean it."

She closed her eyes and leaned on her big little brother for the last time. "Goodbye," she said; he squeezed her, and then he was gone, leaving her alone with the crackle of the fire.


End file.
